Bar stock, which generally comes in the form of solid bars of metal, such as steel or copper (but which may be formed of other materials), is used as a source of starting material in numerous manufacturing processes. Typically, bar stock is delivered to a manufacturing facility in the form of elongate members, such as bars, which are circular in cross section and in the nature of six feet or longer in length. However, bar stock members may be formed in any desired shape and length. Within the manufacturing facility, the bar stock is provided from a storage area to a work area at which a cutting or machining tool may be used to cut the bar stock into smaller pieces of material or to machine the bar stock. When divided into smaller pieces of material, the bar stock may be melted, machined, etc. to produce components of a device being manufactured. Because bar stock is usually made of solid metal, an individual piece of bar stock is typically very heavy. Moreover, because bar stock is generally formed as elongate members with circular cross sections, bar stock rolls very easily and is difficult to stack on a flat table, thereby presenting a safety hazard when stored on a table or shelf above the floor.
Because of its elongated size and its weight, bar stock must generally be moved from a storage location within a manufacturing facility to a work area (at which a working tool is located) using a fork lift or other large and cumbersome mechanical means. Fork lifts, however, do not provide for fine control or adjustment, and it is therefore often difficult to deliver a piece of bar stock to a working tool at the precise location and orientation required by the working tool. As a result, a person must generally manually assist in such a transfer, which puts the person in harms way should the bar stock roll off of the fork lift, or should the fork lift operator accidentally cause sudden movement of the fork lift during the transfer process. Still further, this transfer process typically requires at least two persons.
In some situations, an inclined table may be used to facilitate parallel placement and movement of bar stock from a storage location to a working area. Several mechanisms for lifting or pushing the bar stock from a storage location to a final working position using an inclined table are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,108,245 and 4,503,807. However, because bar stock may be large, both in diameter and length, the bar stock has a great deal of weight and inertial mass. Uncontrolled movement down an inclined table may result in the bar stock having too much kinetic energy as the bar stock rolls into the final desired position. This kinetic energy may cause damage to the working tool, or may result in the bar stock jumping off of the table or working tool, creating a serious safety hazard. Lifting mechanisms that rely on an inclined table on the receiving portion for imparting motion to a bar have similar disadvantages.